The Meaning of MeaningA STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF LANGUAGE UPONTHOUGHT AND OF THE SCIENCE OF SYMBOLISM (1923)I.A Richards

Ivor Armstrong Richards (26 February 1893 in Sandbach, Cheshire – 7 September 1979 in Cambridge) was an influential English literary critic and rhetorician. He was educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge

where his love of English was nurtured by the scholar 'Cabby' Spence. His books, especially The Meaning of Meaning, Principles of Literary Criticism, Practical Criticism, and The Philosophy of Rhetoric, proved to be founding influences for the New Criticism. The concept of 'practical criticism' led in time to the practices of close reading, what is often thought of as the beginning of modern literary criticism. Richards is regularly considered one of the founders of the contemporary study of literature in English.

In The Meaning of Meaning: A Study of the Influence of Language upon Thought and of the Science of

Symbolism, Richards and

Odgen work out the triadic theory of semiotics which, in its dependence on psychological theories, prefigures the importance of psychology in Richards independently authored literary criticism.

Define “Meaning”?

 ~ Something that is conveyed or signified; sense or significance. ~ What is meant by a word, text, concept, or action. ~ The sense or significance of a word, sentence, symbol. ~ The inner, symbolic, or true interpretation, value, or message ~ A valid content.

Dictionary Term

THE “PROPER MEANING” SUPERSTITION-The false belief that every word has a precise, “correct meaning”.

Words + Different People

& Different Situations = Different Meanings

I.A. Richards

A classic theory in semantics (the study of meaning and

Semiotics (the study of signs)

Focus on meaning instead of information- what the message

Means versus how much information it transmits.

Assumes Understanding is the goal of communication

And communication problems involve misunderstanding.

Explains how the misuse of Symbolic language causes

Misunderstanding and offers remedies.

THE SEMANTIC TRIANGLEPICTURING THE PROBLEM

The indirect relationship between symbols and their supposed referents.

The Linguistic Remedies for Misunderstanding1.Definition2. Metaphor3. Feedforward4. Basic English